Organize your notes

Like paper notebooks or three-ring binders, OneNote lets you organize information in notebooks that contain pages and sections. You can add pages, sections, and additional notebooks where and when you need them, and you can just as easily rename, move, or delete them.

See the video of how Doug sets up his OneNote or just follow the steps below.

A typical OneNote notebook is made up of one or more notebook sections. Within each section are the individual pages and subpages on which you take notes. OneNote isn't limited to any particular organizational style. You can organize your notes in any way you like, and if you change your mind, it's easy to change the way your notes are organized.

What do you want to do?

Work with pages and subpages

In OneNote, you can take notes anywhere on a page. Labeled page tabs alongside the page window identify each page, so that you can easily display the pages that you want. Page tabs also make it easy to add new pages anywhere in a notebook.

By adding subpages, you can create groups of related pages. Each group will have one primary page and as many subpages as you need. You can easily select the group as a unit to simplify page tasks (for example, to copy or move them, or send them in an e-mail message). Subpage titles can also help you organize your information.

Type a title directly into the title area at the top of any page. Each page title also appears on its corresponding page tab. If you leave the title area blank, the first line of your notes automatically becomes the title of the page.

To rename a page, click its page tab, and then type a different title into the title area.

On any page in your notebook, you can add a hyperlink from a text selection to jump to another page in your notebook. This is useful for cross-referencing notes or creating a Table of Contents on the first page of each section in your notebook.

In the side margin, right-click the tab of the page that the hyperlink should point to.

On the shortcut menu, click Copy Link to Page.The hyperlink to the selected page and the title of the page are copied to the Clipboard.

Click the location on the page that is to contain the hyperlink.

On the Edit menu, click Paste.OneNote inserts a hyperlink that, when clicked, displays its target page.

Tip: To quickly return to the previous page after you click a hyperlink, click Back on the Quick Access Toolbar.

Click the top edge of the note container that you want to move, and then drag the container to a new location on the page.

Tips:

To move a paragraph, move the pointer over the paragraph handle until the pointer becomes a four-headed arrow, and then drag the paragraph to its new location on the page. If the paragraph that you move contains indented paragraphs, the indented paragraphs are moved with the selected paragraph. To select only the top paragraph, click its handle again.

You can merge note containers by pressing SHIFT while dragging one note container over another.

By default, note containers and other items on a page snap to an invisible grid when they are moved around on the page. This makes it easier to line up note containers, images, and other elements on the page. You can override this setting temporarily by holding down ALT while you drag a note container.

Work with sections

In some three-ring binders, notes are organized into sections by tabbed dividers that each can be labeled by a different subject or topic. In OneNote, the tabs across the top of the current page represent the sections (and any folders) in the notebook that is currently open.

As notebooks grow in size, you might want to change the order of the section tabs.

To quickly move a section tab to a new location in the current notebook, do one of the following:

At the top of the current page, click and drag a section tab to the left or right. A small triangle appears to indicate the new location.

Tip: Dragging and dropping section tabs is the easiest way to arrange all of your section tabs in alphabetical or numeric order, or in any other order that you want.

At the top of the Notebook list on the left, double-click the dropdown arrow next to the notebook name. This opens a pane showing sections within each open notebook, so you can drag any section tab up or down to its new location, even across notebooks. When you drag a section, a horizontal line appears to indicate the new location.

To move a section from the current notebook to a folder or to another notebook, do the following:

At the top of the current page, right-click the section tab that you want to move, and then click Move or Copy on the shortcut menu.

In the Move or Copy Secion dialog box, select the notebook or location you want to move the section to.

On any page in your notebook, you can add a hyperlink from a text selection to jump to a different section in your notebook. This is useful for cross-referencing notes or creating a Table of Contents on the first page of each section in your notebook.

Right-click the tab of the section that the hyperlink should point to.

On the shortcut menu, click Copy Link to Section.The hyperlink to the selected section and the title of the page are copied to the Clipboard.

Click the location on the page that is to contain the hyperlink.

On the Edit menu, click Paste.OneNote inserts a hyperlink that, when clicked, displays its target section.

Tip: To quickly return to the previous page after you click a hyperlink, click the Back button on the Quick Access toolbar.

More resources

As mentioned in the video, if you're using OneNote for Windows, there is an add-in available with even more ways to organize your notes. Search and replace content, sort your pages, add a table of contents and more. You can download it at getonetastic.com

What do you want to do?

Work with pages and subpages

In OneNote, you can take notes anywhere on a page. Labeled page tabs alongside the page window identify each page, so that you can easily display the pages that you want. Page tabs also make it easy to add new pages anywhere in a notebook.

By adding subpages, you can create groups of related pages. Each group will have one primary page and as many subpages as you need. You can easily select the group as a unit to simplify page tasks (for example, to copy or move them, or send them in an e-mail message). Subpage titles can also help you organize your information.

Create a new page or subpage

To create a new subpage, click the New Page arrow and then click New Subpage.

Tip: You can also create a new subpage by right-clicking a page tab and then
clicking New Subpage on the shortcut menu.

Add or change a page title

Type a title directly into the title area at the top of any page. Each page title also appears on its corresponding page tab. If you leave the title area blank, the first line of your notes automatically becomes the title of the page.

To rename a page, click its page tab, and then type a different title into the title area.

Delete a page or subpage

To delete a page or subpage, right-click its page tab, and then click Delete.

Change the date of a page

Under the page title, click the date, and then click the calendar icon that appears.

In the calendar, click the date that you want to display on the page. To choose the current date, click Today.

Note: The new date that you select will permanently replace the old date of the page. When you search notes, the new page date will be used.

Select one or more pages

To select a page, click its page tab to go to that page, and then click the page tab again to select the page.

To select a page group, select the primary page in that group and then double-click its page tab.

To select several pages that are not part of a group, hold down CTRL or SHIFT while you click the tabs of the pages that you want to select.

Group existing pages

Click and drag the tab of the page that you want to be the primary page so that it appears first in the list of pages that you want to group.

Hold down CTRL or SHIFT, and then click the page tabs of the pages that you want to group.

Right-click the pages that you selected, and then click Group Pages.

Ungroup pages

To separate a page group into individual pages, right-click the page tab or any of the subpage tabs, and then click Ungroup Pages.

Move a page or subpage within a section

Click the tab of the page that you want to move, and drag it to the new location. A small triangle indicates where the page will be placed.

To select more than one page or subpage, hold down CTRL or SHIFT while you click the tabs of the pages that you want to move.

If you drag a subpage to a new location, it becomes a primary page. To move a primary page and its subpages, select the primary page and its subpages, and then move them together.

Drag the page tab up or down until the triangle indicator is at the location that you want, and then release the mouse button.

Move a page or subpage to another section

Click the tab of the page that you want to move, and then drag it over the section tab you
want to move it to.

Tip: You can also right-click the tab of the page or subpage that you want to move, point to Move Page To on the shortcut menu, and then click Another Section.

To select more than one page or subpage, hold down CTRL or SHIFT while you click the tabs of the pages that you want to move.

If you move a subpage to a new location, it becomes a primary page. To move a primary page and its subpages, select the primary page and its subpages, and then move them together.

In the Move or Copy Pages dialog box, click the section where you want to move the page or subpage, and then click Move.

Copy and paste a hyperlink to the current page

On any page in your notebook, you can add a hyperlink from a text selection to jump to another page in your notebook. This is useful for cross-referencing notes or creating a Table of Contents on the first page of each section in your notebook.

In the side margin, right-click the tab of the page that the hyperlink should point to.

On the shortcut menu, click Copy hyperlink to this page.The hyperlink to the selected page and the title of the page are copied to the Clipboard.

Click the location on the page that is to contain the hyperlink.

On the Edit menu, click Paste.OneNote inserts a hyperlink that, when clicked, displays its target page.

Tip: To quickly return to the previous page after you click a hyperlink, click Back on the Standard toolbar.

Rearrange notes on a page

Click the top edge of the note container that you want to move, and then drag the container to a new location on the page.

Tips:

To move a paragraph, move the pointer over the paragraph handle until the pointer becomes a four-headed arrow, and then drag the paragraph to its new location on the page. If the paragraph that you move contains indented paragraphs, the indented paragraphs are moved with the selected paragraph. To select only the top paragraph, click its handle again.

You can merge note containers by pressing SHIFT while dragging one note container over another.

By default, note containers and other items on a page snap to an invisible grid when they are moved around on the page. This makes it easier to line up note containers, images, and other elements on the page. You can override this setting temporarily by holding down ALT while you drag a note container.

Work with sections

In some three-ring binders, notes are organized into sections by tabbed dividers that each can be labeled by a different subject or topic. In OneNote, the tabs across the top of the current page represent the sections (and any folders) in the notebook that is currently open. Each section in your notebook is stored in a .one file in the OneNote Notebooks folder, which is located in the default Documents folder on your computer.

Create a new section

Tip: You can also create new sections by right-clicking an existing section tab and then clicking New Section on the shortcut menu.

Type a new title in the selected section tab, and then press ENTER.

Open a section

On the File menu, point to Open, and then click Section.

In the File Open dialog box, locate the section file that you want to open, and then click Open.

Move a section

As notebooks grow in size over time, it may become necessary to change the order of the section tabs that you added.

To quickly move a section tab to a new location in the current notebook, do one of the following:

At the top of the current page, click and drag a section tab to the left or right. A small triangle appears to indicate the new location.

Tip: Dragging and dropping section tabs is the easiest way to arrange all of your section tabs in alphabetical or numeric order, or in any other order that you want.

At the top of the Navigation bar in the left margin, click the Expand Navigation Bar (double arrow) button to show the sections within each open notebook, and then drag any section tab up or down to its new location. When you drag a section, a horizontal line appears to indicate the new location.

To move a section from the current notebook to a folder or to another notebook, do the following:

At the top of the current page, right-click the section tab that you want to move, and then click Move on the shortcut menu.

In the Move Section To dialog box, do one of the following:

To move the current section in front of another section tab, click the target section tab in the list, and then click Move Before.

To move the current section behind another section tab, click the target section tab in the list, and then click Move After.

To move the current section into a section group or into a notebook without any existing sections, click the target section group or notebook in the list, and then click Move Into.

Tip: To create a new section group, select a location in the list, and then click Create New Section Group before you move the current section.

Rename a
section

Right-click the tab of the section that you want to rename, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu.

Type a new name for the section, and then press ENTER.

Delete a section

Right-click the tab of the section you want to delete, and then click Delete on the shortcut menu.

Copy and paste a hyperlink to the current section

On any page in your notebook, you can add a hyperlink from a text selection to jump to a different section in your notebook. This is useful for cross-referencing notes or creating a Table of Contents on the first page of each section in your notebook.

Right-click the tab of the section that the hyperlink should point to.

On the shortcut menu, click Copy hyperlink to this section.The hyperlink to the selected page and the title of the page are copied to the Clipboard.

Click the location on the page that is to contain the hyperlink.

On the Edit menu, click Paste.OneNote inserts a hyperlink that, when clicked, displays its target section.

Tip: To quickly return to the previous page after you click a hyperlink, click the Back button on the Standard toolbar.

More resources

As mentioned in the video, if you're using OneNote for Windows, there is an add-in available with even more ways to organize your notes. Search and replace content, sort your pages, add a table of contents and more. You can download it at getonetastic.com